Twin five-week old baby African leopards, Solka and his sister Chant, have made friends with a year-old baby orangutan named Rishi. The leopards were born at The Institute of Greatly Endangered and Rare Species , in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, US and are being hand reared there.  While leopards and orangutans aren't normally friends in their natural habitat,  these particular animals have been born in captivity, and while still young pose no threat to each other.

As a matter of fact, this may be the only time the two species have ever encountered each other, as orangutans are now only found in the rainforests of Borneo and Sumatra,  far from the African plains which the wild leopards call home.

 

The twins feed every four hours on a special formula of vitamins, yogurt and goats milk. When born in the wild, the mothers usually attend to their baby leopards for about a month and then leave them to take care of themselves. However, when the babies are born in captivity, they need extra special care, and are hand reared by human keepers in order to ensure their health. 

 

Solka and Chant live in an outdoor area where they are able to wrestle and interact with each other. And because they are so young and small they basically are allowed to roam anywhere they like in the house, where they like to roll around on the carpet.
 
The twins won’t be reunited with their 10-year-old mother and 15-year-old father for a few months still. Their handler Rajani Ferrante said the youngsters are very curious and enjoy walking around the institute and meeting visitors. She added that the leopards have taken toRishi and love playing with the young orangutan, enjoying his hugs and fuzzy long hair, and will probably do so for the next six to eight months.

 

Out of the big cat family, the leopard is by far the strongest climber among them. An adult leopard is able to carry prey that is double its own body weight up a tree, where it can then dine in peace without being disturbed by other predators.  Adult male leopards generally grow to about 30 inches in height at their shoulders and weigh approximately 180 lbs. Adult females are quite a bit smaller, weighing about 120 lbs.

Orangutan's also spend lots of time in trees, and perhaps surprisingly, are actually larger than leopards, with adult males weighing around 200 lbs.  Although they have been known to eat small creatures and insects, their preferred food is fruit found in therainforests where they live, so it is unlikely that Rishi, Solka and Chant will be sharing meals as they grow up.

 

At the moment, leopards are given a 'lower risk' classification on the IUCN’s Red List of Threatened Species, but numbers are still being carefully monitored in order to make sure the wild population does not drop to dangerously low levels. Rishi's species, however is in worse shape,  with a status of Critically Endangered.  The Sumatran Orangutan population has been steadily decreasing due to habitat destruction and hunting.